The real mechanical machine was used during the World War II, not so long ago, just about 60 years ago :) It was believed that the encryption is unbreakable, just like today’s popular 128 bit encryption, but in truth it wasn’t so, the encryption was cracked down and decrypted using another machine. Today’s technologies allow us to make a much simpler versions of the original mechanical machines. I do not trust 128 and 512 bit encryptions, if there will something that I’d like to encrypt I’d use 32768 bit encryption because now the speed of encryption and decryption is much and much faster. In the old days it was required to have at least 2 people for easy operation, and a huge brute force of people who were intercepting the radio signals, and some luck for getting a real copy of the original machine :) Now days anyone can make such machine. This version is programmed in Microsoft Visual Basic, however a much easier and smaller model of this machine can be coded in Assembly Language. If you’d be successful in making your own code breaking machine you should be able to decipher several secret messages that are in the bottom of this page, or you’d have to use VB’s version or just look at the weird character set and say hmm…. :)

For more information about the Real Enigma Machine and screenshots click here.

These are the instructions for Basic Enigma machine only, a team of 2 people is recommended

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How to encrypt the message using this machine:

Press “Reset Enigma” button.

Make sure “Encrypt” option is selected.

Type a message using the Virtual Keyboard.

4. Write down the result string – use paper & pencil.

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How to decrypt the message using this machine:

Press “Reset Enigma” button.

Make sure “Decrypt” option is selected.

Look at the recorded message – it should be written on paper using pencil or pen.

Type this encrypted text using the Virtual Keyboard.

5. You should receive the original message!

You can use Cut and Paste as well, but you have to press Enter key in “Source” text box, this way only 1 person is sufficient.

The following message is encrypted by the Enigma Pro Machine without any password – the wheels are not twisted. The amount of the cypertext should be enough to make a lexical analysis even without looking at the source code.